Ashley Falcon
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Chapter 149: My Wi-Fi and I have a connection like nobody else. If it dies, I die.
🕑 Added 2022-04-08 10:11:56 +0000 UTCRoxxy stood alone in the hotel corridor, a hint of cool air brushing past me as water mana spread around her. She was keeping up a defensive bubble, but it wasn't for me.
"Of course we can talk.” I spoke.
I moved aside and she walked inside, her eyes darting from side to side.
“Amanda’s not here?” Roxxy asked.
"You just missed her.” I shook my head. “Did you want her here?”
She shook her head, and I closed the door, turning to my guest.
Gerial and William had gone to comfort her, but it didn't look like they'd done a very good job. Roxxy was rubbing her arm protectively and I could see that she was jittery.
Being jumpy was understandable. I'd be more surprised if she wasn't. Magic was terrifying when it was used outside of the arena. Especially fire magic.
“Let me get you something.” I walked into the kitchen.
"Water is fine, thank you.” Roxxy gave me a tired smile.
This was the first hotel I'd ever been to that had more than one room and a bathroom, let alone several rooms. I didn't know where the tap water came from and I didn't ask.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
There was the sound of feet hitting the carpet coming from inside: when I came out of the kitchen, I saw Roxxy walking from side to side.
She saw me staring and stopped.
“I like to pace when I'm stressed.” She bit her lip.
She was filled with nervous energy, and I could see it trying to shake out of her hands.
Was she scared of me? I wasn’t sure.
“I can get some of the others in here if you want company.” I offered.
“It's not that.” Roxxy shook her head. “You're a cool guy. It’s what I want to say that’s getting to me. Wait, I'm not going to keep you standing like this just for me.”
She turned towards the sofa in the middle of the room. Instead of walking around the back she hopped over it, landing comfortably on the cushions.
Roxxy curled up on the sofa, hugging a stray cushion in her arms. She’d brought her knees up against it and propped her chin on top.
The table was still in front of the sofa from when Gerial and I had spoken about the claim, and I placed her water next to her.
“Here you go.” I sat back onto the sofa. “Is it okay if I sit here?”
She nodded, her eyes glancing from the water to me.
We waited in silence, a thin and uncomfortable atmosphere stretching out across us. Out of all the people on this trip, Roxxy was the one I knew the least.
Her mannerisms and reactions were completely unknown to me, and sometimes it was hard to make normal conversation with her.
Now she’d almost been set aflame, and I didn't know what to say.
It was an unfortunate beginning to what was supposed to be a happy and relaxing trip.
"Aren't you gonna ask me why I'm here?” Roxxy shifted and gazed up at me.
"I like to let people talk first, so that they're comfortable.” I said. "I'm not really a pushing kind of person."
Roxxy tilted her head, golden hair cascading over her shoulders and the cushion. Her fingers rapped against its surface.
“You're the opposite of William and Gerial.” Her features lightened. “I don't think they knew how little I could talk while they were firing questions at me.”
I pressed my hand against my forehead in exasperation.
“I'm sorry about that.” I sighed. “Those two aren't the best socialisers.”
It didn’t surprise me that they'd interrogated her for information. Gerial was awkward around new people, and William’s militaristic upbringing and lack of social experience meant that he could come off as uncaring.
Not to mention his spoiled brat persona cast a veil over his intentions, both good and bad.
“It's not the worst conversation I've ever had.” She looked at the door. “They were trying to be nice.”
“That’s good to hear.” My smile faltered. “Sorry about today. I invited you to a fun week and look at how it turned out.”
Roxxy’s brows furrowed as I spoke, and she shook her head.
“Don't go misunderstanding anything. I was really happy that you invited me.” Roxxy smiled. “I like you guys. And I try not to show it, but I'm stressed as well. This meant a lot for me with all I'm going through.
I'm not really close to anyone else in our class and I'm a social animal. I need to talk.”
I paused at her words.
I’d forgotten about the issues Roxxy was facing. Her brother and father were both hospitalized by Oubliez. Now that Ouros was awake, Roxxy would know that they had been crippled.
Her brother was one of the most affected, and the extent of his injuries were unknown.
She stretched her legs out, and her grip on the cushion softened.
I could tell she wanted to talk about something, but I wasn't sure why she wasn't speaking. I was used to giving people space and having them open up to me.
She waited patiently and neither of us spoke.
We were in a standoff.
Then she unfurled her arms and tittered, breaking the silence.
“See, I kind of don't want to talk about what I want to talk about. But I also would talk about it if someone pushed me.” Roxxy pointed at me. “You can be pushier now.”
I chuckled.
Talking with Roxxy was different from talking with Amanda. Or even Gerial and William.
“Roxxy, it looks like something’s troubling you.” I leaned forward. “What did you want to talk about? I'm here to listen."
“I’m glad you asked.” Roxxy’s smile dimmed. “Something weird happened in that room. And at the aviary.”
Oh?
I listened carefully to her words.
Roxxy hesitated, her fingers drumming against the fabric of the sofa and her foot digging into the cushion beside me.
"My mana reacted to Amanda when she had her outbursts. Or maybe right before it, I'm not sure.” She crossed her ankles.
“Your water mana?” I kept my expression neutral.
It wasn't unusual for water mana to react in the presence of fire mana, let alone a fire-element attack.
I’d seen the two interact similarly in nature.
“My connection mana.” Roxxy corrected me. “You couldn't see it, but it was releasing itself into the air. It was only a few motes when she tipped the ice-cream on you, but then it went into overdrive when she freaked out. It kept rushing out of me, I couldn't stop it.”
She grew quiet.
I hadn't noticed any stray mana during the ice-cream incident, but I'd been distracted. I’d definitely seen it when I’d gone into Amanda's room.
“What does that mean?” I had no experience with connection magicians.
Connection was the rarest of the basic elements. There wasn't even a proper magic studies class for it at Koshima.
“The mana in my manapool was lower. It means I cast a spell. I think.'' Roxxy frowned. “That's why I'm so worried. I might have done something to Amanda without realizing.”
She'd cast a spell without realising it?
"Is that even possible?" I asked.
Magic was an intrinsic part of me. It couldn't sneak by me without my permission or knowledge, and I imagined it was the same for everyone else.
"I don't know.” Roxxy gave me a half shrug. “I have reasons to be angry at her. I don't know if my magic might be acting out because of some subconscious desire I've been suppressing.”
Her voice wavered and I shook my head.
“You’ve gone out of your way to tell me this.” I replied. “All I see is someone with good intentions.”
Roxxy wouldn't have come to me if she was working against Amanda. However, the missing mana concerned me.
That was a surefire indication that a spell had been cast. Or at the least something had been done with the mana.
My feelings were conflicted, but so we're Roxxy's.
"Amanda isn’t responsible for what happened, you said that yourself.” I continued. “Why would you feel bad about her now?”
“Sure, I know that here.” Roxxy knocked on her head. “But I don't know if my heart got the message. As for why it's happening…”
Her voice trailed off.
“Never mind.” She pursed her lips.
A hint of caution entered her eyes. She'd been about to say something that she wasn't ready to reveal to me.
My mind lit up, pushing through the fog of weariness that bogged it down. There was a connection at the tip of my tongue that I needed to make.
A single memory floated to the top of my mind.
The student that attacked Amanda in class had mentioned something to Roxxy when she’d stopped him. A meeting. He'd said that Roxxy had gone as well.
"This is about the meeting." I guessed. “The one you attended with the Koshima nobles to decide how to deal with Amanda’s family.”
Her eyes widened,
“How did you know about that?” Roxxy frowned. “Oh, Hutton’s brother. I remember now.”
Hutton was Alexis’s other close friend aside from Roxxy’s brother Cresp. Hutton's brother had been the one to assault Amanda in class.
Roxxy’s reaction confirmed my suspicions.
There had been a meeting to discuss how to deal with Amanda's family. Judging by her frown and the way she fidgeted, I had a feeling that Roxxy wasn’t happy with the topic.
I took a deep breath. Roxxy had told me to push. So, I would push.
“What did they talk about?” I asked.
Roxxy stared at me, an unbroken gaze that bore into my soul.
Something clicked in her eyes. She shifted positions, bouncing forward onto her knees and springing closer to me.
“They were discussing a few different things. How to undermine their business and duel challenging orders for Amanda. They also talked about their children, and their families. What it would have been like if the Mitra household hadn't existed or let that monster grow.”
Roxxy’s voice was soft.
“I left early, but some of what they've been saying really got to me. I still think about it every now and then.”
Anger rose in my heart, not at Roxxy, but at the others. Their logic was infuriating.
I could also understand where it came from.
It was driven by fear, and uncertainty. These weren't people plotting to overthrow a rival. These families were people whose loved ones were in the hospital with no word of recovery.
An expression of relief washed over Roxxy, and I could see her draining the tension she'd been holding.
There was something confusing me.
“Why are you telling me this?” I asked her.
There was nothing connecting me to this case. She didn't know about my guards and their investigation. I was a bystander.
“You and Amanda are close. I was hoping you could tell me how to tell Amanda.” Roxxy crossed her arms protectively. “I'm not sure how to do it, or how she’ll react.”
There was a hitch in her words, and I saw a sliver of fear cross her expression.
Roxxy didn't know Amanda like I did. She’d only seen the fighter in the arena, and the person that set fire to the hotel room.
"I can tell her, if you want me to.” I sat back, watching her reaction. “You don't have to be involved.”
Roxxy shook her head immediately.
“I'm not the kind of person to run when the going gets tough. Especially not when I might have caused the accident.” She smacked her hand against her chest proudly. “I own up to my mistakes.”
My lips parted into a smile.
"Good.”
“Not good.” Roxxy rebutted. “I could have hurt Amanda.”
“We don't know that for sure and I don't work with guesses.” I gestured at the table. “I use facts.”
A spare textbook appeared from my inventory. Roxxy looked at it curiously as I conjured two pens and another book.
"I don't know how connection magic works, but I do know that your belief has to come from somewhere.” I passed her a book. “You don't have to go into details, but was there anything else that reminded you of a connection spell?”
Disappearing mana wasn't a big lead to follow. Roxxy seemed sure that she had been the cause of Amanda's freak outs, and I wanted to get to the bottom of that.
“To do that I need to teach you how connection magic works.” Roxxy tapped the book. “At least the basics. It’s tough for beginners.”
“Then I'll learn.” I replied without hesitation.
Roxxy looked at the textbook and then at me.
“You’re sure?” She raised an eyebrow at me. "That's going to be an all-nighter.”
Roxxy didn't look reluctant. She was genuinely curious if I'd go through with it.
In her mind the simple answer was to tell Amanda that she’d had something to do with the incidents and leave it at that.
“Is that going to be a problem?” I asked.
Roxxy’s solution would be quicker, but it wouldn't sit right with me. Something felt off about her explanation, but I couldn't explain it properly unless I figured out how connection mana worked.
“No, I just wanted to double check that you knew.” She smiled. “Okay. We’ll start with the bare basics. Don't worry if you can't keep up, just stop me when you're confused.”
She sat against the sofa, grabbing a pen and crossing her legs.
“First—”
Roxxy hadn't been kidding about it being an all-nighter. L
I’d noticed how smart she was in class. She had the top marks in maths and was constantly asking new and innovative questions about symbols.
It also translated to her teaching method.
She’d mapped out every major aspect of connection magic. Unlike earth, it had several prerequisites that were required for use and multiple conditions on how it could be used.
“Connection magic needs to be used with a target in mind.” She tapped my book, “I can impact multiple people, but there has to be at least one target. I can't use a spell in a general area and hope that it's going to hit people.”
Out of all the rules, this was the most important for connection magicians. It was also the biggest advocate for her innocence.
She hadn't targeted Amanda.
"However, connection magic works similarly to how Amanda acted.” Roxxy rebutted my argument. “Connection can also be known as control. They're two sides of the same coin. Just as mana is manipulated, so are humans.
Usually, connection magicians can stop people in their tracks for brief instances of time. However, in real cases they can also cause people to move their bodies in ways that they wouldn't normally move them. They can also cause sensory changes, otherwise known as hallucinations.”
Roxxy made sure I wrote that down twice.
It was exactly what had happened to Amanda.
“Here we have the second major distinction of connection magic.” Roxxy shuffled next to me, checking my notes. “People need to accept the connection for it to work properly. Or, at the least, the target has to be oblivious. The second method is far less effective but can work well.”
That surprised me.
The more aware a person was that they were being manipulated, the less impact the connection spell had on them.
They would instinctively fight it if they knew something was wrong.
However, a powerful enough magician could overcome that rejection. They could force their will onto their target.
“That kind of magician is rare. Individual skills maybe, but not a skill set of them.” Roxxy shook her head. “They'd be known across the world. It's easy to find connection magicians even if they try to hide themselves.”
This weakness was why most connection magicians focused on taking a magical animal to fight by their side. The connection magician would tangle up their opponents by trying to influence them while the animals finished them off.
It was much easier to establish a friendship to help their magic work like a buff.
"That's why you want to tell Amanda sooner than later.” I realised. “You won't have any more incidents if she's looking out for something controlling her.”
“Exactly!” Roxxy shouted.
She blushed, her voice lowering. Gerial was asleep next door, and she didn't want to wake everyone up.
There was one more point that she explained in detail.
Connection magic didn't need physical proximity to work, so long as there was mana nearby.
“I don't know why that's the case.” Roxxy shrugged. “When we meet someone, a connection is formed. It stays forever, but unless the caster is strong it won’t be useful for anything. And by strong, I mean really strong.”
Huh.
It worked kind of like my celestial convergence skill I shared with Gerial.
The strength of the connection was determined by several things. The skill used by the caster, their skill level and the amount of acceptance the connected person felt to the magic.
The person influencing Amanda hadn't actually done that much. A single movement of the hand, and a single quick hallucination.
That suggested they held a minimal connection to her. They were relying on her lack of knowledge. Once Amanda figured out there was a connection, they wouldn't be able to influence her any longer.
My head swam with information.
I was sure of one thing by the end of Roxxy’s lessons.
“There’s still pieces missing, but I’m convinced.” I said.
“Convinced? About what?” She looked at me,
“That none of this is your fault.” I gave Roxxy a pat on the back.
Roxxy was silent as her eyes roamed through her textbook.
She'd been writing down notes as well, mostly connecting her lessons to Amanda’s cases. She put her pen down, her lips curling up in a grin.
“You're right.” Her head perked up. “I don't even know why I thought it could’ve been me.”
There was a joyful gleam in her eye.
I rubbed my head, trying to get rid of some of the drowsiness I felt. The room was lighting up gently as the morning sun’s light mixed with the light of the ceiling regents.
“It was midnight. You were tired and had just been in a major accident.” I yawned. “It's called panicking and it's perfectly reasonable.”
I was more impressed that she had come to me and explained her situation. She was even planning to tell Amanda herself.
That took a lot of guts.
If this really was the work of connection magic then the strength of the caster was unknown, their skills were unknown, and their connection to Amanda was unknown.
The possibilities running through my mind were meeting a dead end.
I was mentally exhausted.
Luckily, I still had enough wits about me to know that this problem was easy to solve. My guards would likely come up with a similar solution if they hadn't already, and once Roxxy told Amanda to watch out for connection mana the spells would be impossible to use against her.
"Holy Fue, it's already morning.” Roxxy noticed the sunlight. “That time raced by.”
I nodded.
Learning about magic was one of my passions. It was difficult to find information about my own element, let alone others. Koshima academy focused on specific element education.
Finding skill information for connection magic would be nearly impossible.
"I'm going to splash some water on my face to wake myself up.” Roxxy stretched her arms out. “Thanks.”
Her hand lowered over my side, and she drew me into a half-hug.
“I should be thanking you for the lesson.” I smiled.
Roxxy tittered, lifting herself off the sofa and walking into the bathroom.
I was ready to sleep.
Even if it was just an hour or two, I felt the need to rest. I sat back on the couch, the events of today playing over my mind.
Things were looking good for not-Gesti Bob.
He had minimal motive, and minimal chances to impact Amanda. But I didn't leave loose ends.
I sent a text to Gerial.
‘What kind of magic does the Gesti family use?”
Bob wasn't a Gesti, but it was the best frame of reference I could use. Also, I was in their territory, so it never hurt to double-check.
‘Mixed.’
‘They try to train different branches in different areas.’
‘But part of their bloodline gives them a single big advantage.’
His wave of replies was immediate. I hadn't realised he was awake.
I paused as his final message came through.
‘Their bloodline automatically attunes them to the connection element from awakening.’
I sat back, my mind going over this new information.
All of the Gesti were connection magicians.
